Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have created tiny EEG caps for brain organoids. The team was inspired by full size EEG caps that are used to measure brain activity in human patients. Previously, the Hopkins researchers were forced to use flat electrode arrays that were originally designed to take recordings from cell monolayers, but applyin (Read more...)
Tag: Neurosurgery
Magnetic Activation of Specific Brain Circuits
Scientists at Rice University developed a system to wirelessly and rapidly activate specific brain circuits using magnetic fields. The technology has been developed in fruit flies, a common experimental animal, but the researchers hope that it could help in understanding the brain and to develop new treatments for neurological disorders in humans. (Read more...)
Brain-Computer Interfaces at Home: Interview with Dr. Solzbacher of Blackrock Neurotech
Blackrock Neurotech, a medtech company based in Salt Lake City, has pioneered an array of brain-computer interface technologies. Medgadget last spoke with Blackrock Neurotech a year ago about their thought-to-text brain computer interface, but since the company signed an agreement with a research institution to develop portable brain computer inter (Read more...)
Soft Bioresorbable Implant Controls Pain by Cooling Nerves
A team of engineers at Northwestern University led by John Rogers, the person responsible for many advances in flexible electronics, created a drug-free implant that can control pain by cooling nerves. The soft implant is intended to be wrapped around a nerve during surgical procedures that would typically involve opioid-based analgesia afterwards. (Read more...)
Flexible Microprobe for Neural Interfacing
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a tiny neural probe that is approximately one fifth of the width of a human hair. The probe is flexible and can be implanted for extended periods without aggravating the immune system, in part because of its small and unobtrusive profile. Its miniature size means […]
Thin Film Electrodes for Neuro Applications: Interview with Dave Rosa, CEO of NeuroOne
NeuroOne, a medtech company based in Minnesota, has developed the Evo Cortical Electrode and the sEEG electrode, both of which are thin film electrodes for neural recording and stimulation. The small profile and flexible nature of the electrodes allows for less invasive insertion, and the low resistance they offer delivers improved signal quality. (Read more...)
Wireless Data Transfer for Implanted Devices Using Ionic Communication
Researchers at the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a new method for implanted devices to communicate with the outside world that exploits the ions that are naturally present in our tissues. Ion-rich tissues store potential energy, and in this paradigm an implanted device would alter this stored energy wi (Read more...)
Telerobotic System Uses Magnets to Perform Endovascular Procedures
Researchers at MIT have developed a telerobotic surgical system that allows a surgeon to remotely treat patients who are suffering a stroke or aneurysm. The system could be very useful, as achieving treatment as soon as possible after a stroke is crucial, but the endovascular surgeons who specialize in treating such patients may not be […]
Zoom POD for Sterile Field Clot Capture: Interview with Daniel Davis of Imperative Care
Imperative Care, a medtech company based in California, created the Zoom Stroke Solution, a complete system for the mechanical removal of clots in patients with ischemic stroke. The system includes an access catheter, aspiration catheters, a powerful pump, and the latest addition, the Zoom Pod, a clot filter that is positioned within the sterile fi (Read more...)
Device Makes Diffuse Ultrasound Waves for Intracranial Applications
Researchers at the University of California San Diego created an ultrasound transducer that is intended to provide safer ultrasound treatment when working inside the brain. Ultrasound has significant therapeutic potential for various ailments that originate in the brain, including epilepsy, and next-level sonogenetics involves targeting various cel (Read more...)
Flexible Brain-Computer Interface Array for Better Contact
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have created a brain-computer interface array featuring microneedles affixed to a flexible backing. The design allows the array to better conform to the undulating surface of the brain, permitting better contact and improved signal recording across a wide area. The technology represents an upgra (Read more...)
Artificial Neurons and Synapses from Printed Transistors
Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have created artificial neurons and synapses using organic electrochemical transistors that can be printed onto plastic foil in their thousands. The printed structures can conduct both electrons and ions, helping them to mimic the action potentials generated in biological neurons. So far, the Swedi (Read more...)
Funky Helmet Enhances MRI Brain Scans
A team of engineers and radiologists at Boston University created a helmet that can dramatically improve MRI scans of the brain. The device consists of a series of magnetic metamaterial resonators that significantly boost MRI performance. This results in crisper images that can be obtained at twice the speed of a normal scan. The breakthrough [&hel (Read more...)
MRI-Guided Magnetic Seeds Heat and Destroy Tumors
Scientists at University College London have developed a highly targeted anti-tumor treatment. The approach involves guiding ferromagnetic thermoseeds to the site of a tumor using the magnetic fields generated by an MRI scanner. The magnetic seeds can then destroy the tumor through localized heating that is induced by an MR-compatible thermoablativ (Read more...)
Thought-to-Text Brain-Computer Interface: Interview with Florian Solzbacher, Chairman of Blackrock Neurotech
Blackrock Neurotech, a medical technology company based in Salt Lake City, created a suite of brain-computer interface systems with the goal of empowering patients to have increased independence and quality of life. This latest technology aims to restore written communication in patients who have difficulties in this regard, such as those affected (Read more...)
Crossing the Blood-Brain Barrier Using Lasers and Gold Nanoparticles
Delivering drugs to the brain remains a challenge due to the blood-brain barrier, a specialized endothelial layer that is highly selective in what it permits into the neural tissue beyond. At the University of Texas at Dallas, researchers have developed a technique that allows therapeutics to cross the blood-brain barrier, potentially allowing for (Read more...)
Wristband to Detect Strokes: Interview with Sandra Saldana, CEO of Alva Health
Alva Health, a medtech startup based in Connecticut, is developing a wristband that can detect the signs of stroke and promptly alert the wearer and/or healthcare staff. The technology is intended for those at high risk of stroke, such as stroke survivors and those diagnosed with transient ischemic attack. Strokes cause a huge level of […]
Explorer Surgical Expands into Robotic Surgery: Exclusive with CEO Jennifer Fried
As cloud and digital platforms continue to gain traction, we’re seeing a trend toward increased investments in robotic surgery in medical technology fields. Surgical training, coordination, and collaboration in the operating room are areas where digital tools can help shorten learning curves. While robotic technology continues to transform he (Read more...)
Wireless Photoelectric Implant for Optogenetics Research
Scientists at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland created a wireless photoelectric implant that allows them to activate or suppress certain neurons in the mouse spinal cord. The flexible implant is controlled through Bluetooth and contains miniaturized LEDs that emit red light, which helps to avoid absorption and r (Read more...)
Laser-Assisted Bioprinting of Neurons
A team at Concordia University in Montreal have developed a technique called Laser-Induced Side Transfer (LIST) that allows for bioprinting of neurons. Low energy laser pulses are directed at a capillary containing a cell-laden bioink, resulting in microbubbles that eject a microjet of the ink onto the substrate below. The technique appears to be f (Read more...)